Retail Brokers Have Done a Terrible Job Teaching Investors How to Succeed – with Wade Cooperman, CEO of TradeMONSTER

tradeMONSTER is making some waves in the retail brokerage sector. The company is the first to focus heavily on helping investors understand the importance of exit plans. At Wall St. Cheat Sheet we pride ourselves on giving our subscribers everything they need to make risk-managed trades or investments. We are happy to see a retail broker doing the same.

I caught up with tradeMONSTER CEO Wade Cooperman to learn more about how tradeMONSTER seeks to become a powerhouse platform for traders and investors …

Damien: Wade, how do you guys differentiate yourselves from the other big players in your space such as Schwab (SCHW), eTrade (ETFC), and TDAmeritrade (AMTD)?

Wade: It’s a good question. Let me answer with a story. Long before September 2008, a number of us who have been in the industry for a while grew very frustrated with what retail brokers did for the individual investor.

For instance, in my opinion, the industry’s done an absolutely terrible job of helping investors learn how to invest. This is especially true when it comes to giving investors the tools to make them more confident and therefore more successful. I think most of the applications out there are developed to get people to trade more. That has nothing to do with success.

We were developed with the underpinning, “Let’s give people the tools and the embedded education so they truly become better investors.” Our goal is to give people something they currently can’t get elsewhere.

Damien: What is embedded education?

Wade: Every broker says they have education. I have two problems with that. One, everybody’s education seems to be very dictionary-oriented. They simply tell you what investing jargon means. In essence, they’ll give you that information, but not necessarily tell you how to use it.

We give you all the information you want in a pop-up window so you don’t lose sight of the market. It’s all right there in front of you. Then, we encourage you to paper trade our lessons until you are ready to put your money on the line.

With our education, if you have an idea that in the next six months XYZ is going to go up from 50 to maybe 65, we help you devise a strategy for that. After you enter in your priorities, within a second we do a million calculations and say, “Look, here’s a list of strategies that you can employ.” That’s something investors need, but no one else gives them.

Damien: That’s very cool. That’s in line with the Wall St. Cheat Sheet philosophy. Rather than make blanket “Buy” calls and leave the buyers stranded, we think every investor should have a full trading plan just like the professionals. We think you guys are doing a great service for those who want to excel in the markets.

Wade: Thanks, Damien. These are new times, and we believe investors are sick of churning and burning their accounts. It’s an exciting time for us both.